The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release, issued May 15, 2026, estimated 6.4 million construction and extraction jobs nationally. That was 4.1% of all U.S. nonfarm employment. The group's annual mean wage was $65,360, compared with $69,770 across all occupations. A mean is an average, not a promise of individual pay. Construction laborers were the largest occupation in the group, at about 1.1 million jobs. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers accounted for 812,210 jobs, electricians for 757,220, and carpenters for 670,090. The release identifies elevator and escalator installers and repairers among the highest-paying construction and extraction occupations, with mean annual pay of $109,820. First-line supervisors averaged $86,450. Among the lowest-paid occupations in the group, helpers of painters, paperhangers, plasterers and stucco masons averaged $42,440, and helpers of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters averaged $43,730. These are occupation-wide estimates, not entry-level or journeyman rates. The national figures conceal local differences. Construction and extraction occupations made up 9.1% of Wyoming employment and 8.1% of North Dakota employment, the two highest state concentrations identified in the release. Midland, Texas, had the highest listed metropolitan share at 14.8%. A high local share of jobs does not necessarily mean higher wages. OEWS is a survey-based snapshot of employment and pay by occupation. Someone comparing paths into a trade should check the current wage scale, licensing rules, training requirements and local openings for that specific job. The national means do not establish what a new apprentice would earn.